Some forced to travel 100km for the RM500 aid
Published on: Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Keningau: some villagers while grateful for the aid meant to help family heads with monthly income below RM3,000, said they are forced to travel far from home in order to redeem their vouchers.Villagers in Kg Bariawa Ulu, Keningau, said it made no sense for the Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri (LHDN) to allocate different districts as their BR1M redeem centres.Sylvia Dainsi, 30, her mother Jarish Saman, 47 and Rohani Atin @ Jumain, 38 are among villagers from Kg Bariawa Ulu who were told to get their vouchers in Tambunan.ADVERTISEMENT Sylvia said in order to get the RM500 aid, she had to take a bus to Tambunan, about 50 km away. Mahisah Salin, 34, whose permanent address is Kg Bariawa Ulu, was told by the LHDN to get her voucher in Sook, which is a different constituency from her residence.JKKK Chairman of Kg Bariawa Ulu, Masidin Yulot said, the villagers brought up the matter to him because there are many who are not pleased with how LHDN conducted their dealings.He said there are some who have to redeem their vouchers in Ranau, over 100km away. "This is like giving unnecessary problems to the villagers before they could enjoy the money, who are poor in the first place."For them to travel to those places, it means not only they have to make extra effort to get there, but they have to spend more money for transportation and others as well. We understand that the BR1M supposed to be a sincere gift from the government, and we are very thankful for that. But subjecting them to great inconvenience in order to redeem their vouchers is what they did not expect.ADVERTISEMENT "We hope that the allocation of voucher redeem centres for villagers, especially in the interior will be arranged to the nearest centres within their constituency," he said.In TONGOD: Tajimon Mustapah, 35, from Kampung Kenang-Kenangan Karamuak had to travel for two hours on a muddy highway.
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Since his village is far away from Dewan Pekan Tongod, where the BR1M was given out, Tajimon left the house at 5am for Pekan Tongod by getting a lift on a four-wheel drive vehicle for a RM30 fare. "BR1M is very meaningful to me because I will use it to buy goods for my six children and the house," he said when met after a ceremony to hand over BR1M for the Kuamut State Constituency, here, Tuesday. A total of 711 people received the aid from Kuamut State Assemblyman Mansiung Bannah under Phase 1. Mansiung said the disbursement of BR1M for the second phase for those staying far in the interior, would be done in the villages. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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He said he had asked the Tongod District Office, Bank Simpanan Nasional and the army to deliver to the recipients staying deep in the district. "I don't want BR1M recipients who stay in distant villages to be forced to spend a lot of money and to travel long distances to get the aid," he said.